… If Geathers and Williams are subject to suspensions, they will be assessed in the Florida game on Oct. 29. The Bulldogs have a bye this week. Stewart’s penalty would be assessed in Vanderbilt’s game against Army this weekend.

“I’ve played football and been around football all my life,” said Robert Geathers Sr., who played in the NFL for 13 seasons has has two other sons playing professionally, “and if you watch it you see this kid speed up while everybody else is slowing down and he’s locked in on my son’s leg. If you look closely you can see the guy give a thumbs up to the sideline and the coach telling him ‘good job.’ I was, like, ‘Wow!’ I could be sitting here today telling you how my son’s surgery went.”

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Upon review of game tapes of the football game between the University of Georgia and Vanderbilt University, played in Nashville, Tenn. on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2011, Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive has announced that Vanderbilt sophomore center Logan Stewart, Georgia sophomore defensive lineman Kwame Geathers and Georgia junior defensive back Shawn Williams have been suspended for the first half of their team’s next football games.

Vanderbilt hosts Army this Saturday while Georgia plays Florida in Jacksonville on Oct. 29.

Geathers action was in violation of NCAA Football Rule 2-32-1-a for fighting. By NCAA Football Rule 9-5-1-b, the penalty for violation of the rule in the second half includes suspension for the first half of the team’s next scheduled game.

On the same play, Stewart’s suspension is the result of a flagrant personal foul which occurred at the 13:09 mark in the fourth quarter. The action is in violation of Rule 9-1 of the NCAA Football Rule Book, which states that a flagrant personal foul offender shall be disqualified.

Williams’ suspension is the result of a flagrant personal foul which occurred at the 2:08 mark in the third quarter. The action is in violation of Rule 9-1-4 of the NCAA Football Rule Book, which reads, “No player shall target and initiate contact to the head or neck area of a defenseless opponent with the helmet, forearm, elbow or shoulder.”

This action is taken in accordance with Southeastern Conference Constitution, Article 4.4.2 (d), which states that a student-athlete may be suspended if it is determined that the student-athlete has committed a flagrant or unsportsmanlike act.

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93 responses to “Fair is fair.”

Senator, I did predict this. Not happy about it, but I did see this coming. Of course it makes complete sense….suspend Geathers for a conference game and the Vandy $h!t for an out of conference game. Perfectly reasonable. Can Richt and Co. appeal? Since they have the bye week, they have a bit more time for this avenue of action. If the SEC really had a pair, they’d go after the Officiating Crew that allowed it to get to that point.

And Coach Franklin was worried about number 36 talking trash? I couldn’t get this angle on my replay and didn’t catch it live either. Now that I’ve seen it I think Grantham did a good job keeping his cool.

Obviously, I’m a Georgia homer and I want Geathers to play in the Florida game. However, attempting to look at the situation from a neural point of view, I still think that the SEC should cut him some slack in this case. The Vandy player tried to end his season. It’s just that simple. Going after a player’s knees like that is trying to injure a player, and taking out the knees doesn’t just take you out of the game, it’s going to end your year just because some Vandy nerd got mad. Geathers shouldn’t have retaliated, but come on… most people would have.

And if the Williams play in question is the special teams play where he got blindsided after the play ended and then went after the guy, I have to think that is at least somewhat understandable, too. He needs to be smarter than retaliating, though.

Williams is an upperclassman and a captain. Why you would ever throw a punch like he did is beyond me, and it is beyond stupid. Sad that such a good player, and by all previous accounts a smart player, would do such a dumbass thing.

The Kwame thing is a little different. And he also at least had the smarts to take a body shot, not swing a bare hand at a helmet. So there’s that.

Seriously, what a Grade A piece of shit. That happened so bang bang there is no way he missed the blatant illegal cheap shot by his own player, and yet he only becomes animated after Geathers retaliation. It seems pretty clear by this video and Franklin’s reaction Vandy had a motive and a plan Saturday night. I can’t believe Franklin is coming out scotch free on this debacle.

This is what happens when you have shitty officiating. The referees have a duty to act in the best interests of the game and players. When there is failure to act, the players have to personally defend themselves, resulting in potential injury and consequences.

and what’s absurd about the disparity of punishments is that the clip to the unprotected back/side of the knee is so much more savage than a “punch” to the shoulder pads from a guy on his knees.
the bullshit never stops in the sec.

I think the part that really leaves me steaming is that it wasn’t flagged as an off setting penalty. Geathers got the personal Foul call, but the Vandy $h!t only got a clipping flag, and those two do not off set. Vandy was awarded an automatic 1st down due to that, It was utter BS! Which is why I hope the refs for that game get thrown under the bus. They could have nuetralized the situation early on, but chose to let tempers build.

The penalty for clipping was during the play, the PF on UGA was after the whistle o the penalties were not offsetting relative to downs. They could have stepped off the clip, then stepped off the dead ball foul, but that is why Vandy got the first down.

The bigger issue to me is all the emphasis on the “punch”. No one with a helmet on is endangered by a punch, a cheap shot from the back. below the knees is MUCH more dangerous. Both were deliberate, but one was simply a retaliation. The Vandy PF was similar to Auburn’s last year and should carry a much heavier penalty. The Vandy player, and coach, are the bigger offenders here.

Not to start an argument over a minor thing, but the “clip” actually happened after the play was blown dead. At least that was what I saw from my replay. In which case, the play should have been a personal foul. The QB had already run outof bounds and the officials were moving in, and I believe they were blowing the whistle.

Which we know it isn’t, so I suppose Big John better get ready for at least half a game on his own. If it’s more than that, I think some one ought to find out if there is a reasonable way to go after the SEC/Slive over this (legally, of course).

and another sumbitchin’ thing: i suspect the vandy player wouldn’t have been flagged if geathers hadn’t hit him. you can see from the video that no official reached toward his pocket until geathers drew their attention. but sec officiating being what it is, i’m sure the zebras reasoned among themselves that “since we gotta throw a flag for the punch, i guess we gotta count the clip, too.”

Hopefully Alec Ogletree is healthy enough and he can move back to safety to take Williams spot. After all, Gilliard and Herrera are doing damn good work filling in…let’s get all three on the field at the same time.

Not much can be done to replace Geathers, though. Big John is going to be exhausted in the second half when we really need him.

Yeah I’m still worried that Big John is going to get real fatigued after playing the majority, if not every snap, of the first half instead of being able to rotate in with Kwame. Kwame will most likely get the majority of the snaps in the 2nd half. Hopefully his adrenaline pumping in anger and frustration will lead to complete domination of the UF center.

Yeap. They said pretty much nothing bout UGA until Tech lost. The easiest way to ease a Tech loss is to point at UGA and shout. Hence why they didnt say crap bout how Tech couldnt overcome a whole 14 pt, when they other team did not score for the last half of the game.

It is unbelievable that we are are still talking about this. I wonder if the AJC/ESPN/Macon Telegraph/Senator et al hadn’t kept running this story that it might have been just “swept under the rug” and forgotten until next year.

Us still keeping it the center of attention surely hasn’t helped Grantham’s or Geathers’s case. It has basically forced the SEC to review and take action now that has been in the public’s “eye” for this long.

You would have thought a felony was committed with the way the press continues to run with it…

So lets recap:
Two players suspended, both coaches are being dealt with “internally”, and WE ARE STILL F*CKING TALKING ABOUT IT!!

All I’m saying is if the press hadn’t kept running this “nothing” of a story perhaps the SEC wouldn’t have even bothered. I’m sure they felt like they HAD to do something since everyone kept fanning the flames.

Am I totally blaming the Senator? Of course not… Hey, I want website hits to my site just as much as the next guy and its obvious that people were eating this story up. But sometimes enough is enough. If it weren’t for the bye week I bet this story wouldn’t have last past Monday.

I just want to make sure I read it right, but all of the players in question here were flagged and their teams penalized in the game, right?

If there are suspensions, Vandy losing a guy for a non-con game is bullshit – although, honestly, it’s a winnable game for them so considering conference games don’t really matter for the ‘Dores, this is probably equal punishment.

I don’ tunderstand the difference between Brandon Spikes gouging Ealey’s eyes (unprovoked, at least on that play), and Geathers’ retaliation. If anything Geathers was less egregiuos. And Spikes received no punishment from the league. Other than being the most hamstrung team in the history of I-A, why should we expect there to be any suspension?

If I recall correctly, it was initially set to be a half game by Meyer and Spikes upped it himself to a full game (I’m sure Meyer prompted him to volunteer to sit the full game after the media panned the half game penalty).

The SEC has a policy that any player throwing a punch or committing a foul that looks like it is intended to injure another player must sit out the next two quarters. That is how the original Spikes punishment was meted out. With Slive’s concurrence, I might add.

After the public bruhaha over the “lightness” of the punishment, it was upped to a full game, ostensibly on the suggestion of Spikes himself.

Seriously, if there’s suspensions after that shit show, is there anything we can do? I personally plan on calling, emailing, mailing, fedexing, whatever complaints all day, every day leading up to the Cocktail party if the suspensions are as obviously one-sided as I fear they will be. Maybe my anger will be focused to the AD office and hopefully passed along that way.

Senator, I feel your pain here. It’s not fair, and you can’t blame Geathers for reacting the way he did. But if the SEC is in a suspendin’ mood, I don’t see how it’s their fault Georgia has Florida up next and Vandy has Army. Asking them to pick and choose which game a player gets suspended for is opening up a Pandora’s Box that really, really shouldn’t be opened. Even if it’s for a player’s next SEC game–if, say, something had broken out in that LSU-Miss St game and the LSU player had gotten to play against west Virginia only to sit out for Kentucky, the ‘Eers would have bitched all day. And they’d have been right.

It’s unfortunate. But in terms of which game the players miss, I think the league’s hands are tied.

Ordinarily, I’d say yes. But in this case, from a purely personal point of view, it won’t. I say that because losing their center for one game or the rest of the year won’t change the fact that Vandy will be irrelevant this year. Georgia, for all of their flaws, has a chance to win the East this season. Yeah, sure, if they do somehow pull that off, they will almost certainly be obliterated by Bammer or LSU. But my point remains that losing a player or two for the Cocktail Party could have a very real effect on Georgia’s season – whereas losing a center for any length of time will have no meaningful effect on Vandy’s season.

Not to mention, there are mitigating circumstances. It is apparent by the video the player’s intention was to commit an illegal infraction to severly injure his opponent or at the very least draw an illegal response. Or, “he started it.” If Vandy WAS relevant, they wouldn’t be pulling this shit because they’d need their players just like we need ours.

Has the SEC office evolved over the years? What do you think they would do today re the “Holt – Granning” situation? And two years later Georgia Tech’s # 88 puts a vicious hit on Bama’s Wayne Freeman. All that led up to the end of the series between Bama and Tech in 1964. After all Bear Bryant wore a helmet into their last Tech game to keep from getting hit by the whiskey bottles throw by the Tech students.

Granted Ben Jones should have been suspended last year after what he did on the field against MSU. Dan Mullen handled it right. Can not say that about Franklin. You have to call into question how CMR handled it post game.

Hopefully the SEC handles this properly. Not good for a player to trail a player across the field and take a cut at his legs. On purpose. No push or shove. Nope, “I want to take you out kind of play”. Do not blame Grantham for going after a coach after the game who went after one of his players. Do not recall Franklin making any remark to CMR post game about Stewart’s play.

The constant in this. Those AJC boys. Same as it is today when they go after Grantham and Georgia as it was when Jesse Outlar and company went after Bama’s Holt and Bear Bryant.

Some opposing coaches, individuals, and associations do not like the success or status of other teams and programs.

Apparently it’s been confirmed, but not announced by the SEC, that Geathers is to receive a two quarter suspension for the Florida game.

Neither Georgia nor the SEC office has made any announcements yet regarding discipline dispensed in the wake of this past Saturday’s emotional game in Nashville. Both the game and a brief skirmish between coaches and players immediately afterward is currently being reviewed by the SEC. But Mr. Geathers indicated his son already has been informed he’ll have to sit out the first half of the Bulldogs’ next game. And that bothers him.

No word yet on Williams. Mr. Geathers is not a happy camper right now and I can’t say I entirely blame him.

Wow, I didn’t even catch the thumbs up by the center after Kwame retaliated. I mean, is it not plainly obvious what their gameplan was. Despicable, and it all begins with Franklin, who clearly watched his player pull that bullshit and went apeshit himself after Kwame retaliated. There is no place for that in football.

Agree entirely. The second the retaliation from Geathers happened the coach was on the field pointing like a pre-snap Payton Manning, which tells me he was focused on that part of the play, not where his QB ended up the run. Seriously, go Zapruder on the mutha and see what you all think, like Kwame’s dad apparently did, which is the only thing that called my attention to the thumbs-up from the Vandy center. The coach is looking to an area where nothing should have been happening and ready to pounce. And honestly, the post-punch stare-down wasn’t a big deal, so why was he running on the field in the first place? He’s a prick. A petulant prick. Now I’m sure of it, I hate him.

Oh well, it is what it is. we’re at the point where you hope Coach Richt and the guys just say to themselves “You know what? F&*k ’em! We’re all we got, and we’re going to win in spite of the the BS from the NCAA and SEC. Let’s start by exocising some demons and kicking the crap out of those guys in orange and blue, then same goes for the next set of poor dumb bastards in orange and blue. After that, Christain God willing, we’ll ruin some SEC West team’s dreams of a BCSNC. That’ll be the utlimate shining middle finger to these bastards. Let’s get to work”

Geathers has to sit because it was a clear violation but, as I have already written on here, that Vandy kid’s lucky that Geathers’ teammates didn’t go for payback against him or one of his teammates. That dirty stuff is a good way to get you or one of your buddies in rehab for a year.

That’s what I want to know. If such a suspension were really the norm, you’d see about one every GD SEC game. Fairley would have been suspended for every other game. Once again the SEC office/officials takes it upon themselves to be the arbiter of football ethics…in a completely arbitrary and capricious way.

I really hope the LSU/Alabama game is decided by some bullshit call, an excessive celebration penalty, or some blatant non-call while the whole college football world is watching.

I’m not sure exactly what you’re talking about. I haven’t seen anything from UGA’s AD responding to the suspensions.

And an additional point. I don’t think you can call McGarity “feckless” after he sat down with UGAPD and got them to chill the f out. That gives me hope that he’s doing a lot more behind the scenes that we don’t know about…like blowing up the SEC Office over this type of crap.

If I am the AD at Georgia, I’m on a plane to Birmingham with Mr. Geathers and the film. Want a little more clarification of the rules. First, the play was over. Dead ball. Vandy should not have received a first down. Not a clip or chop block. Personal foul. Wrong call by officials.

Williams personal fouls. How did the SEC bring those into the decision making, because they are none factors. Game over, he can say what ever he wants. Has no impact on the game or any future game. Only connection to Vandy is on their football field, post game. Plus anything he says has no merits, ie, he says, she says [you can figure out the genders here].

Is it me or do we not have any AD who has enough manhood to stand up for the teams [well maybe they have enough for red panties]. Greene…4 games, Jones…half a game, and now this.

Now where does this leave this officiating crew. Like some of us thought in the first half at Vandy and the last half at UT…not SEC calibre.

Adams and McGarity need to cherry pick the officials here out. Let’s see what the SEC does with Muschamp, because if I am CMR and McGarity I meet with the the officials prior to the UF game. Do not want any incendiary conduct from the UF sidelines. Plus at the end of all games here out, take the players, coaches, managers, and other staff directly off the field. No contact with opponents post game or prior to the games.

“Granted Ben Jones should have been suspended last year after what he did on the field against MSU” and then in a different post you say “Is it me or do we not have any AD who has enough manhood to stand up for the teams… Jones…half a game”.

I get that you’re upset (I am too), but blaming the AD isn’t the place to go with this one. If you remember it was our AD’s quick actions that got another Jones (the beastly one on defense) reinstated so quickly.

Get pissed with the officials, Vandy, or the incompetence at the league office for failing to go after the instigators, but I think you should leave the UGA AD out of this.

How the hell do u suspend the vandy punk and kwame the same amount of time? Oh yeah, by referencing ur little rule book’s predetermined penalty and not using any discretion like your highly paid and very powerful ass should. Slive, you just piss me off.

Really the SEC is a joke. The suspension of Geathers is bad but the suspension of Williams is beyond the pale. To totally ignore the premeditated beat down of Aaron Murray by Nick the Enforcer last year but to suspend our player for a hit that was not 1/2 as bad as any of the 3 hits Nick made is just crazy.

None of this would have happened if there had not been that shouting incident after the game. Our people have to be smarter than this. Williams opened his big mouth “rubbing in” the victory thereby pissing off the Vandy coach who yells at him thereby pissing off Grantham who goes semi-berserk. Who takes it in the back? UGA as always. Williams needs to run laps/the stadium until he pukes and Grantham needs a stern talking to from the HC and the AD. I would include Mike Adams in the discussion with Grantham but it does no good to hear about how to behave from a 12 year old. The Williams suspension is the one that really hurts. Jenkins can cover for Geathers for the first half. I’m not so sure about Williams’ replacement, particularly if somebody in the defensive backfield gets hurt in the first half.

The “shouting incident” didn’t cause the Vandy player from cheap shotting Kwame or any of the dirty play by the Commodes. And Franklin was looking to create a narrative of the game from the get-go. And then he compounded it by then complaining about the conduct of our players to Grantham? Forget about it.

Without the shouting incident the SEC pays no attention (as usual) and nobody gets suspended. Because of the shouting incident there is national publicity, the SEC has to look at it and the suspensions happen disproportionally against UGA. So, who got hurt by this? Georgia that’s who. It all started with Williams opening his big mouth. Then when the Vandy coach did something he shouldn’t have done Grantham over-reacted causing the national publicity. Grantham should have just said “Back off coach you’re out of line” and walked away taking Williams with him. But no. Now 2 key UGA defensive players are suspended from the first half of the most important game of the year. Who’s smart and who’s stupid here? You tell me.

UGA gets f-ked no matter what. If it isn’t AJ getting suspended 4 games while Dareus gets 1, then it’s AJ’s celebration bs, or now Geathers. When will Adams, McGarity & CMR stand up and say “ENOUGH!”. At least Grantham doesn’t back down. The leaders we’ve trusted with the reins to this program are little more than pussies and pushovers. First thing CMR needs to do is appeal the suspension. If they don’t drop the suspension, then he should demand the sec cite previous similar circumstances. Adams, McGarity & CMR should be on the airwaves supporting our player. Somebody other than Robert Geathers and CTG needs to get Kwame’s back.

Wouldn’t be surprised if the film that got them both suspended was submitted by Vanderbilt.

Also, Geathers’s dad is right. After the flag, when that POS center gets up, he gives Franklin a thumbs up. Franklin watches the play unfold, then runs out to the refs pointing and screaming about Kwame’s “punch.” The “punch” is definitely not as dramatic as they make it out to be either. The clip… that dude should be suspended for quite a while. That was dangerous and despicable.

I feel that those suspensions were recommended by both Richt and McGarity, and the SEC slave master just followed it. Both are drooling to appease their master.
Is Stewart really a starter??? I saw a depth chart on Vandy and he is not even listed on the list. I wonder if he is just one of those calculated plans of Franklin to bit Geathers. Is he just a tool for Franklin?
And as expected Richt just believed Franklin, and since he is still trying to atone for his end zone 2007 celebration, he recommended the suspension Geathers and Williams just what Franklin likely told Richt “Man to man” — likely a sort of self flagellation for Richt..